The bridge over the River Hull has been closed since 2020
Sculcoates Bridge has been closed since 2020(Image: Google)
The Labour group on Hull City Council has called for repairing Sculcoates Bridge to be the council’s ‘New Year’s resolution.’ The bridge has been closed to traffic since March 2020 due to it being at “risk of collapse.”
In late 2025, the council announced the first of three phases of refurbishment work had been completed on the bridge, known locally as Chapman Street Bridge. The council also announced it was looking into starting work on the second phase of the Grade-II listed structure’s refurbishment.
Despite these announcements, a time frame for the bridge’s reopening was not given. Instead the council simply said it is a “key step” in its five-year infrastructure plan.
The opposition Labour group, led by former council leader Cllr Daren Hale, criticised the “snail-pace” plans to reopen the bridge. The ruling Liberal Democrats dismissed Labour’s critiques as “pointless political point scoring”.
Labour are now calling for funding for the bridge’s repair to be allocated in the council’s upcoming budget. The council will set its budget for the 2026/27 financial year at a full council meeting on February 26.
Cllr Daren Hale said: “The repair and reopening of Chapman Street Bridge could be carried out without impacting on anything else, because it is already shut. It’s a no-brainer.
“It is ridiculous that the ruling Liberal Democrats have failed to deliver on this, despite Labour making sure the money was there in the budget before we lost control in 2022. Labour has been raising this year after year in our own budget amendment but each time the Liberal Democrats have refused to listen, and voted against funding urgent repairs to Chapman Street.
“They have now committed to a feasibility study on its repair, but a study does not mean it will be done. Labour will propose immediate action in this year’s budget, and urge the Lib Dems to join with us and do the right thing.”
Fellow Labour councillor Sharon Kassim represents the Central ward in which the bridge is located. She said: “I am really angry that this has been stalled by the Liberal Democrats for four years now.
“It is a quick and easy win in tackling at least some of the congestion in the city and especially in my ward, Central ward. Labour will keep up the pressure in the hope that the Liberal Democrats will do something.”
The bridge was closed for two years before the Labour Party lost control of the council, leading the deputy leader of Hull City Council, the Lib Dem’s Cllr Jackie Dad, to argue: “Chapman Street Bridge, like other bridges in the city, was left to rot for years under Labour when they had power in the Guildhall. They know just how bad the state of the bridge was when they lost control of the council.”
In responding to the Labour group’s calls, Cllr Dad also said: “The Lib Dems have set out a multi-year plan to fix Chapman Street Bridge, and others in the city. The city has already seen that work get underway with the vital work on Drypool Bridge. Our budget will include the funding necessary to take these repairs forward.
“The Lib Dem team on the Council has already started to fix the mess left behind by Labour in Hull. From fixing Drypool bridge to returning Freetown Way back to two lanes in both directions, people are starting to see the changes they asked for.”
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